John Wilkes Booth was the greatest matinee idol of his era. Though history books ararely mention it, the man who shot Lincoln was beloved and familiar to thousands of theatre-gowers and was especially popular with women, from whom he received a hundred fan letters a week. In fact, it was Booth’s familiarity with the layout of Ford’s theatre - he had played there many times - and his friendliness with stagehands that allowed him to penetrate the security guard so easily the night of the shooting.
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